THE EAST COAST'S MAIN ATTRACTION
	Dramatic sea cliffs, endless plains, medieval cities, historic sites and burgeoning metropoli. Simon Walton is an addict to them all, and satisfied his craving by mainlining down the varied east coast of Britain in a very modern interpretation of a very historic mode of transport.

Seldom does the eye catch it. A little sign, modest and unbecoming. It simply states that this is Stoke Bank, just to the south of Gratham. But for railway passengers on the East Coast Main Line there's much more to see. From the shadow of Edinburgh Castle to the banks of the River Thames, this is surely one of the greatest and most accessible railway journeys of the world.

Yet, even in these exulted circumstances, inconspicuous Stoke Bank should play a part in this experience. For though the modern electric expresses of Great North Eastern Railways accelerate up the south bound gradient as if it were as flat as the looming Lincolnshire countryside, it was at this place that a predecessor in the age of steam made history and set a record, never to be beaten.
	Mallard at Stoke Bank by Bernard Jones GRA

This is the spot, on 3 July 1935, where the hitherto unsung engineer Nigel Gresley made his name, and his knighthood. It was here that Sir Nigel's finest achievement - the streamlined A4 Pacific class express locomotive Mallard thundered through at over 126 miles per hour - a record for steam traction, achieved in an era when half that speed was exceptional.

Nowadays, with the great cathedral of St Wulfram retreating to the north, GNER's expresses touch that mark on an hourly basis. Fitting therefore that the company has chosen to honour the name of Mallard as the designation for it's rebuilt and renewed fleet. In superlatives, the new trains match that unsurpassed achievement. In comfort and leisure, they're the equal of every splendid aspect of the route.

This is no epic journey, Britain is a small island after all. The experience though is not diminished.

The importance of the route demands frequent services - nearly forty a day, making this once in a life time experience available almost every half hour.

However, to truly feel a part of history, there is one train above all others to be on board. Mallard may be the most famous locomotive, but the most famous train is undoubtedly the Flying Scotsman.

As the twenty one acre Victorian canopy of Edinburgh Waverley station glides back - the 10am departure for London Kings Cross briefly glimpses the Palace of Holyrood. Tradition demands that when the monarch is in residence, no audible salute is offered - a benefit of royal patronage for Her Majesty's subjects in Abbeyhill and Meadowbank. This traditional scheduled departure for The Flying Scotsman - both north and southbound - used to reach the respective capitals of England and Scotland just in time for a late dinner.

Now, it’s there before an early afternoon tea. That hasn't deterred GNER from providing some of the best fine dining on the rails.

Far from it. With guest menus from London’s famous old Simpson's in the Strand and Glasgow’s new and chic Sisters Restaurant, patrons are welcomed to the galley cars - or served at their first class seats.

An opening course is to be enjoyed as the fertile fields of East Lothian give way to the North Sea cliffs of Berwickshire.
With a selection from a wine list that defies the lack of a cellar, the dramatic Royal Border Bridge may be the scene of a toast to bid farewell to Caledonia in under an hour - a far cry from the two days faced by Cumberland's subjugating army, as he marched north to break the Jacobite revolt of 1745.

The fishing grounds of Northumberland and the causeway to Holy Island offer the last place where, in railway parlance, the East Coast Main Line is in touch with its nomenclature.

Even so, the River Tyne is tidal at the point where the Flying Scotsman makes the stop at Newcastle. When first introduced, the bustling city of Newcastle Upon Tyne was claimed as the only intermediate city important enough to halt this prestige express. In reality though, the stop allowed exhausted crews to be relived after the punishing work of stoking Gresley's mighty steam engines for over 250 miles from London in record time.

Newcastle Central perches on the very edge of the city.

No sooner has the modern Flying Scotsman pulled out of the curved station, flanges squealing over the "Newcastle Diamonds" - the complicated switches and railway points - than it's over the river and into reborn Gateshead, the Tyne's south bank daughter.

Take your eyes off the myriad bridges to view Baltic - a huge former grain store, now the biggest contemporary art space in Europe.

Changed days from the industrial grime and hard labour of sea-trade, now all watched over by the outstretched arms of Anthony Gormley's testament to the region's past, and vision of its future - the Angel of the North, easily seen above the line on the way to Durham.

Onward through Yorkshire, where the aptly named Ouse has often flooded and brought the illusion of the coast closer to the line.

It's at York where Mallard herself has pride of place in the collection of the National Railway Museum. She resides there, forever in the very depot where she retired for repairs after that astounding run in 1935.

From the railway town of Doncaster there's a detour, a much more sedate way to London by way of the Cathedrals Route - Gainsborough, Lincoln, Ely and Cambridge.

But the business-like Flying Scotsman has no time for diversions around the dreaming spires. Retford and Newark sweep by - their equestrian heritage visible in almost every lineside field. Then Grantham – home of Margaret Thatcher.

The Iron Lady merely one of the Ministers Prime and famous frequent travellers of this route. In fact and fiction the Flying Scotsman has welcome aboard all the glitterati from politics to playhouse. It was by this very train that Michael Caine’s character made his journey of revenge to Newcastle, in the defining 60s British gangster movie "Get Carter".

But no such melodrama today. Peterborough, the remaining large town before King's Cross, hardly existed in fictional Carter's day. The pinnacle of Britain's post war new town scheme, this medieval market village was transformed into a city and county seat that now hosts all the trappings of civic life from sports clubs to suburbia. Ironically, the city built to encourage development out of London is now home to the largest long distance commuting community in the south east of England - rivalled only by Brighton's bowler-hatted gentry.

Grantham

As the east Cambridgeshire towns give way to the edge of Betjeman’s Metroland, the unparalleled extent of London’s suburbia becomes apparent. Some services even stop at these epitomes of genteel Englishness: Huntingdon, St Neots, and the ephemeral Welwyn Garden City. But from here south, there’s no doubt that arrival at one of the world’s great cities lies close at hand.

Though the approach to the capital does not show London in the most picturesque of lights, it does offer an insight into the reality of the sprawling metropolis.

For millions of Londoners, life is not the outrageous fortune of Knightsbridge and Notting Hill, it's the modesty of Highbury and Stratford and Finsbury Park - though even these unpretentious terraced rows have become fashionably expensive as those who can afford to, relocate closer to the financial institutions of the City.

There's as much a sense of arrival at Kings Cross as there is in departure from Waverley.

London's famous terminus (just one of thirteen) is now thankfully relieved of its Satanic atmosphere of steam, smoke and diesel. The clean silent electric trains of GNER seem every bit as at home as did Gresley's Mallard of the 1930s.

Now, with the redevelopment underway of the neighbouring St Pancras station, as the terminal for Eurostar services to Paris and beyond, this once down at heel corner of London is set to become the hub of not one, but two great railway journeys of the world.


The Flying Scotsman will soon have equally glamorous company as she pulls north on the return journey to Edinburgh.

 

Simon Walton

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